Saleby

Here ...

"Here" is all that remains of the runic inscription on this "tree-of-life stone". The rest of the text is worn away. It has become one of the floor-stones of Saleby church (which isn't very old - built in 1894), and I suppose it will be much tread upon in the future too. The same goes with Vg 70, a few meters away.

There are about 400 of these "tree-of-life stones" ("liljesten" in Swedish), and almost all of them are to be found in the province of Västergötland in Sweden. Less than 10 have a runic inscription on them. Not much is known about them, since there are no contemporary records or sketches of them. They probably date from the 12th century, and as you can see on this link, they can vary much in style, but still have enough in common to be a type of its own.